German business confidence dips further to near 5-year low

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BERLIN (AP) — A closely watched survey is showing that German business confidence has fallen to a near five-year low as managers’ expectations for the coming six months have deteriorated.

The Ifo institute said Monday that its monthly confidence index slipped to 97.4 points in June from 97.9 last month, in line with market expectations.

The third straight monthly fall takes the index to its lowest since November 2014 and was entirely due to managers’ waning views of future prospects. Their assessment of the current situation rose modestly from May.

German growth forecasts have been cut repeatedly recently and the economy is expected to turn in a feeble performance in the second quarter after returning to growth in the winter.

Ifo’s survey is based on responses from some 9,000 firms.

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